If you are looking for a rainy-day project to capture the interest of both your preschool and school-age children, try this puzzle-making project: Collect nine empty same-size single-portion cereal boxes or gelatin boxes and glue the open ends shut. (For a more challenging puzzle use 12 boxes.) Line up the boxes in even rows to make a square or rectangle. Measure the length and width.

Look through magazines or large calendars for a favorite picture the same dimensions as your combined boxes. Measure and cut the picture in rectangles the size of each box.

Or use your child's painting or drawing, print his/her name in big letters across a sheet of paper, or photocopy and enlarge your child's photograph. Glue the cut-out pieces on one side of each box. For a double-sided puzzle, glue pieces of another picture on the other side.

To play with the puzzle, mix up the boxes and put them together to make the picture.